Punk & Politics Make Pigs Panic in South-West Towns

Punters & band members relax between acts at Cut Cameron Festival

Our sources report that the Police are using threats and intimidation in an attempt to repress anti-cuts groups forming in town across the region.

Yeah yeah, not exactly an exclusive we know. But we aren’t talking about the cops coming down hard on organised groups of international anarchists having secret meetings with their leader Chris Knight. In Swindon, Wiltshire police have been harassing members of their local anti-cuts group who have been organising stalls and giving out flyers about the cuts in the town centre.

The cops, one, due to a spelling mistake on his ID card now known as Inspector Anger (can you be arrested by a cop with incorrect ID?) have been demanding the personal details of these shady leaflet distributers and making up laws to get them.

They have also received threatening e-mails and phone calls about the risks of non-compliance with the Police and some members have been visited in their homes by police searching for information. One sergeant threatened to ban all future actions by the group under section 14 of the public order act.

One member of Swindon Against the Cuts suggested one cop let slip about some information that revealed they are getting “insider information ” some how.

In response the group has done the most sensible and community minded thing and voted through a policy of complete non-compliance with the Police. This made us very happy indeed and we hope other groups will follow suit.

Last week we had the pleasure of meeting up with a group of young activists in Taunton who are beginning to mobilise. They even threw us a cracking Punk all dayer.

Here in our city political punk gigs are almost a weekly occurrence. It seems however that nothing overtly political has happened in Taunton for a very long time and as a result the Police panicked. The organisers were forced to have a Police liason and received regular calls from the local plod. Even the venue was visited and the land lady warned off allowing the gig to happen, being told it was a protest rather than a concert and another cop referring to it as a “mini Glastonbury”!

Organisers were warned to stop using a poster that showed a smashed window, a banner saying “cut Cameron” had to be taken down and the event received no less than six visits from Cops and PCSOs during the evening. The cops had been briefed to gather information and one even bought a magazine from our stall. A few heated discussions broke out as we explained why Police were not welcome at the event leading to two of our comrades being ejected by security. On their last visit the police were confined to the kitchen though what they were doing there in the first place is the question!

Always using their initiative our intrepid comrades took to the streets to spread the anti-cuts message to early evening shoppers and closed the local Vodafone store in the process.

The next morning, freezing cold and hung over, we were again harassed by PCSOs two visiting us as we sat eating our veggie breakfasts and drinking coffee in a local pub.
A van of officers and a load more on foot greeted us as we went to meet up with the newly formed Taunton anti-cuts group on a demo outside Vodafone. Clearly they heard that international activists from places such as “Bristol” and “Bath” had traveled down for the protest.

We are glad to here this over the top policing had not put anybody off and our new Taunton mates tell us they plan to protest tax-dodging corporations and public service cuts on a weekly basis, more info here.

It’s fantastic to hear groups organising in small towns in the region so let us know whats happening near you or even better invite us to come visit! Great stuff coming from Stroud and Forest of Dean but Cornwall? Devon? lets ‘av it!

Solidarity to anti-cuts activists across the UK. We are everywhere and together we are unstoppable.


http://www.anticutsaction.wordpress.com - Anti Cuts Action (Bristol)
http://www.myspace.com/anonpromo - Anonymous Promotions (Taunton)
http://www.tauntonac.wordpress.com - Taunton Activist Collective